NEWS | FEATURES | PREVIEWS | EVENTS
By John Posada

originally published: 07/16/2022

(WEST ORANGE, NJ) -- Pleasant Valley Productions is presenting Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical July 15-16 and July 22-23 - each night at 8:00pm - at Oskar Schindler Performing Arts Center in West Orange.  The production is directed by Elizabeth Rogers, music directed by Daniel Mullen, and choreographed by Nicole Boscarino.  Photographer John Posada was on hand to take some photos.

Matilda is a little girl with astonishing wit, intelligence, and psychokinetic powers. She’s unloved by her cruel parents but impresses her schoolteacher, the highly loveable Miss Honey. Over the course of her first term at school, Matilda and Miss Honey have a profound effect on each other’s lives, as Miss Honey begins not only to recognize but also appreciate Matilda’s extraordinary personality. Matilda’s school life isn’t completely smooth sailing, however – the school’s mean headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, hates children and just loves thinking up new punishments for those who don’t abide by her rules. But Matilda has courage and cleverness in equal amounts and could be the school pupil’s saving grace!

The cast (in alphabetical order) - Emma-Rylie Casper, Dominic Crisonino, Juliana Curcio, Sarah Decker, Marissa Gabrielson, Selina Ghosh, Elizabeth Gillen, Susan Hagen, Fabian Hattem, Cory Herbert, Frank James, Andrew Kapferer,  Natalie Kapferer, Ana Knezevic, Richard Leit, Cassandra Lindeblad, Sean Lynch-Littlejohn, Vin Macri, Sherry Mayce,  Emerson Meakem, Danielle Meola Valencia, Grace Pages, Cristina Patrao, Evie Reyes, Noelle Santosuosso, David Simon, and Marissa Tufaro.

General Admission are $10.00 and available at the gate, which opens at 7:30pm.  Bring a lawn chair.  Food concessions are available at each performance.

 

 

Advertise with New Jersey Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info

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Matilda the Musical is a musical based on the 1988 children's novel of the same name by Roald Dahl. The play features a book by Dennis Kelly; music and lyrics by Tim Minchin.  The musical had its Broadway premiere at the Shubert Theatre on April 11, 2013.  It took home 5 Tony Awards that year.

Here are more photos from the production.

The Oskar Schindler Performing Arts Center is located at 4 Boland Drive in West Orange, New Jersey.

Pleasant Valley Productions (“PVP”) was formed in 2012 as an independent, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) community theatre company. Based in West Essex County, they observed that their area of New Jersey had no theatre companies that focused on mentoring local youth in the technical and administrative, as well as the artistic aspects, of theatrical production. Keeping that in mind, their goals are to produce quality productions, mentor the development of young people in the technical, administrative, and artistic roles of a theatre and to develop new works and provide a platform for their expression.

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ALL PHOTOS BY JOHN POSADA - If your theatre company is interested in having John Posada cover your plays, contact New Jersey Stage at info@newjerseystage.com.  He has taken photos during live performances and dress rehearsals.

John Posada is a New Jersey based photographer specializing in live theatre and music performances. For more than 10 years, John has photographed live music events where he mastered the techniques of timing and capturing fast moving action under challenging lighting conditions to capture that perfect moment that tells a story in a single image. Currently, John has photographed over 70 productions for over 40 different theatres. Click here for John's website.